Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-05-07
dIsrespectfully by calling mo cold fellow. > or

unexpectedly by calling mo "old fellow" or
even "my avuncular relative"
Job touched his head, not having on a hat
aLock the door, Job, said, "and bring me
my dispatch box"
He obeyed and from the box / took the
keys that poor Vincey, Leo's father, had
given mo ON the night Of his death There
were three of them; the largest a compare
lively modern key, the second an exceedingly
ancient one end the third entirely unlike any
thing Of the sort that ] had ever seen before,
being fashioned apparently from a strip OF
solid silver, with bar placed across to serve
as handle, and some hicks cut in the edge of
the bar. II was moro like model of some
antediluvian railway key than anything else.
"Now are you both readyln ] said, as peo-
Pile do when they are going TO fire q mine.
There was no answer, 80 took the big key,
rubbed some salad oil into the wards, and
after one or two bad shots, for my hands
were shaking, managed TO fit ii and shoot the
lock. Leo bent over and caught the massive
lid in both his hands, and, with an effort, for
the hinges had rusted, leaned it back. Its re-
moval revealed another case covered with
dust. This we extracted from tho iron chest
without any difficulty, and removed Tho ao-
cumulated filth of years from it with q
clothes brush.
1t was, or appeared to be, of ebony, or
some such close grained black wood, and was
bound in every direction with fat bands Of
iron. Its antiquity must have been extreme,
for the dense, heavy wood was actually in
parts commencing to crumble away from
age.
snow for it, said, inserting the second
key.
Job and Leo bent forward in breathless
silence The key turned and | flung back the
lid and uttered an exclamation, as did the
others, and no wonder, for inside the ebony
case was q magnificent silver casllet, about
twelve inches square by eight high. 1t up.
peared DO be of Egyptian workmanship, for
the four legs were formed of sphinxes, and
the dome shaped cover was also surmounted
by sphinx. The casllet was, of course, much
furnished and dimme1 with age, but other.
wise in almost perfect condition.
| | drew it out and set it on the table, and
then, in the midst of the most perfect silence
l inserted tho strange looking silver key and
pressed this way and that, until at last the
lock yielded and the casllet stood open before
u.s. 1t was filed to the brim with some brown
shredded material, moro like vegetable fibel
than paper, the nature Of which / have never
been ablo to discover. This carefully re
moved to the depth Of some three inches
when l came to q letter inclosed in an or
binary modern looking envelope, and ad
dressed in the handwriting of my dead frient
Vincey:
"To my son Leo, should he liue TO open thi
cdsiet."
handed the letter to Leo, who glanced a
the envelope and then put it down upon TIL
table, making motion to me to go on empty
ing the casket.
The next thing that came 10 was parch
ment carefully rolled up. unrolled it, ant
seeing that it was also in Vinceys hand
writing, and headed, translation of th
Uncial Greek Writing on the Potsherd,n pu
it down by the letter. Then followed anothe
ancient roll of parchment, that had becom
yellow and crinkled with the passage of years
This also unrolled It was likewise trans
lation OF the saline Greek original, but il
black letter Latin this time, and appeared t
me from the style and character to date fron
the end of the Fifteenth or perhaps the middl
of the Sixteenth century. Immediately be
meath this roll was something hard an
heavy, wrapped up in yellow linen, and re
posing upon another layer of the f1brou
material. Slowly and carefully we unrolle
the linen, exposing to view very large bu
undoubtedly ancient potsherd of dirty ye
low color! This potsherd had in my judg
ment once been part of an ordinary amphor
Of medium size. For the rest, it measure
eleven inches in length by ten in width, wa
about quarter of an inch thick, and densel
covered on the convex side, that lay towar
the bottom of the box, with writing in til
later Uncial Greek character, faded here an
there, but for the most part perfectly legiblC
the inscription having evidently been execute
with the greatest care, and by means of
reed pen such as the ancients often used
must not forget to mention that in some r.
mote age this wonderful fragment had bee
broken in two, and rejoined by means c
cement and eight long rivets. Also ther
were numerous inscriptions on the inner sid
but these were of the most erratic character
and had clearly been made by different hant
and in many different ages, and of them
shall have to speak presently.
SIS there anything morea" asked Leo, in
kind Of excited whisper.
, [ CROPPED about and produced somethin
) hard done up in a little linen bag. Out {
| the bag we took first, a very beautifl
miniature done upon ivory, and secondly,
small chocolate colored composition scare
b9us, marked thus: